Will I be Lighter for Life? (Lighter Life)

Member Name: clawson0810

Product:	Lighter Life
Date:	28/11/08 (2794 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quick weight loss - which can be permanent.

Disadvantages: Relatively expensive and difficult if you have a family to feed

The thing about body weight is that it creeps on so much easier that it is lost. I don't know why this is (come on all you scientists tell us why!) So being somewhat middle-aged and slightly overweight (well more than 3 stone but I class that as slightly!) I finally got fed up with buying bigger and bigger clothes and decided to diet.

Now I have tried a number of diets over the years, as my weight did used to go down as well as up (though once past 40 it seems to have forgotten the downward movement), - Atkins, Slimming World etc (all you dieters probably have your own list similar to mine) and one thing they all seemed to have in common was the length of time it took to get rid of the weight.

Don't get me wrong though, I know that the key to keeping slim is to ensure you eat healthily and these diets are geared towards getting you used to smaller portions / good food, but do I want to spend 2 years getting rid of weight before I can afford to treat myself to that lovely ice cream or a good curry night out with friend - the answer is an emphatic NO!

I want results and I want them now!

A friend of mine did the Lighterlife diet about 4 years ago and even though she was heavier than I am/was she dropped the weight and, more importantly, kept it off.

So, I opted to go for the Lighterlife option (I am in my 4th week).

This is not a diet for the faint of heart. It is expensive (relatively) and does take some getting used to.

I would admit that this is certainly an extreme way of dieting - you are only allowed 500 calories a day (if you are a woman - not sure if there is a slightly higher amount if you are a man).

Now before you all stop reading - I will say that I have NOT felt hungry yet, neither has my hair fallen out, I haven't got ricketts and best of all my Doctor has signed all the forms so if he is happy I guess that this diet is 'acceptable'.

The idea of the Lighterlife diet is to take away your need to think about food for yourself (ok if you have kids or a husband that cannot fend for himself you may find it harder than I have but many people, my friend included, have managed so don't dismiss it).

In some ways it seems easier than the other diets such as Slimming World etc., because you don't have to weigh your food - you just eat the packs they give you - very difficult to put an extra lettuce leaf on your plate when you don't have a plate!

The simple idea is - you get 4 packs a day. 3 of these packs are either soup or shakes, and the last 'pack' is a bar. Each pack contains a quarter of your daily requirement of nutrients and vitamins - so if you eat all 4 (which you should do) you will, probably for the first time in your life, be getting 100% of your RDA.

But this is not all it is about - there is a class, weekly, and after your weigh in you all sit in a group and indulge in some 'therapy'.
Ok, ok, I know - I found it all a bit twee to start off with - being asked what colour I felt had me rolling about laughing - but some of my fellow dieters could relate to the question and when I listened to them I could see that they did feel that way (one woman was 'grey' and I think you can work out how she was feeling).

However, following weeks have been a bit of an eye-opener as they talk about why we eat as we do. The idea that my parents are partially to blame didn't really strike me as true, originally, - I was never made to stay at the table and finish my dinner or eat all my vegetables before I could have dessert (which, apparently, can be a trigger to over-eating as your child may well be saving a bit of space for dessert but because you make them eat ALL their dinner they then over-eat because who can resist a nice dessert?). No, in my case, because I could pretty much do as I wanted I became spoiled (yes - hold my hands up) and therefore if I wanted to eat something - I did. Result: weight.

Understanding this has been a bit of a key towards my goal - I have the 4 packs a day and can honestly say I have never felt hungry (apart from the usual times - you know - Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner times).

What I have felt is, what I call, fake hunger - you know, when you see someone eating cheese on toast and think - yumm I fancy some. In the past I would have gone and got myself some even if I had just recently eaten. I find, however, that if I drink some water the feeling goes away and I am starting to recognise the difference between real hunger and the 'fake' hunger.

Anyway - enough of my evengelical zeal - back to the product.

Lighterlife food packs come as soups, shakes and bars and as stated earlier you have 4 of these a day (1 bar the rest shakes/soups). The only other things you can have is tea & coffee (black only) and water - not flavoured.

There is a good range of flavours in the packs
Soups come in Chicken (my favourite) Mushroom, Tomato, Thai Chilli and Vegetable.
The Shakes are Vanilla, Banana, Strawberry, Raspberry, & Chocolate.
The Bars are: Peanut (my favourite), Cranberry and Raspberry, Fruits of the Forest and Lemon.

I am, what you would call a very fussy eater, so only eat the Chicken Soup (which is surprisingly creamy) and the Peanut bar which is surprisingly peanutty. Occasionally I have a vanilla shake - and you can pep this up with instant coffee and run it in the blender with ice - voila the Frappe.

I have also found that the soups do not taste as 'powdery' as normal cup-a-soups which is good, though I do find some of the bars quite sweet.

So far my weight loss has been.
End of week 1 : 9.5 lbs
End of week 2 : A further 4 lbs
End of week 3 : A further 2 lbs (bit disappointed with this but understand that as I am not that much over the 3 Stone my weight loss will slow some weeks but pick up others.
I am now into my 4th week (and eating a peanut bar as I type) - I have dropped over a stone in weight and a size in clothes (yippee) and am managing to stick to it without much problem.

Would I recommend this to others - yes - but make sure your mind is determined and your family/friends will support you. It costs £66 per week in the 13 'Foundation' weeks. After that you can go into 'Development' (which is further weight loss if you need to lose more) or 'Management' which is when you have reached your target weight and want to maintain your slimmer self. (I belive the Development phase costs £66 per week but the Management phase is less - just under £50 per week).

It seems a lot of money but think how much you spend on food per week for yourself (not forgetting the odd trip to the sweet counter).

One word of caution - if you have a mushroom allergy then talk to your councellor as some of the non-mushroom soups have mushroom powder in them.

One final thing. You have to get your doctor to sign a form confirming that you can start the programme and then every 4 weeks you have to have a health check / blood pressure reading signed off by a health professional.

Summary: In the right frame of mind this is a good way to lose weight.